Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Beautiful Beginnings

What is it about the start of these rides? The all-day rides with dirt and climbing. The rides that begin in the early hours of the morning. We should feel groggy and tense after a night of little sleep. But everything is so still and serene that we are alert and open. The air is dewy. Faces are dewy. Everyone looks beautiful in the milky fog. It is not possible to know the weather yet. Everything hovers. The plants exhale and the scent they release is so strong it is almost unnatural. Is someone wearing perfume? No, it is flowers, grass, leaves, wet earth. We relax and exhale too.

Bags bulge with provisions and spare pieces of clothing. There is a friendly look to them; happy and full. Everyone wants to know what everyone else has brought. A show and tell of contents, a peek into each other's little bag-contained world.

Steel tubes rest against shrubbery. Surrounded by foliage, they blend into the organic colour pallets, muted in the early morning light.

Histories of bicycles are told and retold. Wonderment is expressed. Admiration is exchanged. The brand new feather-light racing bike is beautiful; we are envious. The hand-painted dump rescue with clumsy DIY braze-ons is beautiful; we are envious. Ditto for everything in between.

As inky darkness gives way to tentative lilac daylight, we slowly feel that sense of readiness swelling up within us. If the start of the ride is timed well, it will correspond with the crescendo of that sensation.

And then, as if it is the most natural thing in the world, we will transition from a state of profound calm to a state of immediate action. No jitters, no nerves. Just a beautiful beginning.

I think you just described the part I love the most about some of the best bike rides/races, canoe adventures, days spent with vintage airplanes and spindly old Model Ts. A period at the beginning where we realize that normal life is suspended and another grand adventure might be beginning.

Even if the day ends up mundane or disappointing, there was that moment where we were ready for anything and anything could have happened. When a grand adventure DOES occur it makes the next 2 weeks back in Mundaneistan feel like an unfortunate but necessary period to be endured before we get to slip back into that other world. I love that.

FWiW, did a 4 day mini- tour over the weekend. Mid-ride second day I stopped for lunch in an empty park. There were a bunch of wild flowers near my seat. A large bumble bee was getting its lunch there too. Not sure how long - probably much shorter than it seemed - but for a time there was nothing in my mind other than the motion of the bee getting its pollen. Stayed with me the rest of the ride.

Quite the stable represented on that ride. A carbon bike or two, cross bikes, a few Ti bikes (one with aerobars), Classy steel If Club Racers, my Ti Club Racer in 'randocross' mode, classic steel, new steel, I think there was a mountain bike, a Redline, a Trek, etc., a couple of Surly CrossChecks, 2 VOs, the Rawlands.

PS I realize I met you last week, but was so tired at the time I didn't put all the pieces together to figure out where I knew you from. You were test-riding a nice bike (with some component troubles) by JFK park, I was on an orange Sam H.

In any case: Hello, nice meeting you. Hope things worked out with the bike, the farmers' market, et al.

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Published since 2009, Lovely Bicycle is an eclectic bicycling weblog featuring stories, reviews and miscellanea, with an emphasis on the classic and the handmade. As of 2015, Lovely Bicycle is based in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. Thank you for visiting!

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